I understand the idea behind having the more likely to be used action on a page slightly larger or in a different style in order to guide the user to it (for example having a button for save but a small text link for cancel).
When say an administrator hits delete I have a confirmation dialog appearing asking if they are sure they want to do that and presenting them with two options, 'Yes, Delete this' and 'No, Keep this'. At the moment these are the same size and style and therefore the same weight on the page.
I was wondering if that should be the case or should I assume that the administrator is not an idiot and that if they have hit delete confirming this action is the most important part of his next step and therefore should be given a greater weighting on the page?
Answer
Luke Wroblewski wrote an article called Primary & Secondary actions on web forms that talks specifically about this problem. His data is based on research from eye-tracking studies.
The conclusion is basically that there should be differences in visual weight between the two so that you can interpret, at a glance, which call to action is more significant. He also talks a bit about positioning and order.
As for which button should have more weight, it's up to you to determine the situation. It's usually good practice to be very conservative about buttons when dealing with CRUD operations like deleting something, but you probably know best (or you should test) which situation is more likely to occur. If deletion happens more frequently, then perhaps it should be the primary action.
See Michael's answer below for some good references to platform guidelines which specify how you should decide which should be the primary action.
For more discussion on similar issues with buttons, see these questions:
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